|
Loading... Q (original 1999; edition 2005)by Luther Blissett
Work detailsQ by Luther Blissett (1999)
 nwhyte | Sep 14, 2012 |  How can someone make money out of a book like this? It is released under Creative Common license, which means everyone can spread it, also in parts, as long as it is clearly stated who the author is. But there is no clear author. Luther Blisset is not a physical person; it is a collective name behind which several authors are hidden. I have read other things from Luther Blisset, but this is definitively something different, and something better. This is a novel about the dark era of Reformation. It is clear that Luther's ideas worked only because they served the interests of some german princes. Luther trait was clear to everyone from the beginning. He revolted to the pope only to create his own church. Others continued with his ideas, added some better. In the Netherlands communions were formed were goods were shared among everyone, and where unions were not formalized by weddings. Kids would not be baptized, because it does not make any sense to force a faith on them. But all these theological disputes, all the battles in Münster, the Concilio in Trento, were just a big farce. Everything actually revolved around the power battles between Carl V and the Pope, the Sultan Suliman the Greatl behind them the bankers, as always. At the end of the book, only the consciousness that religion is the food for the stupid, and that history commands our acts much more than we would like to. (  ) Peppuzzo | Aug 14, 2011 | This fascinating book tells the story of the middle years of the 16th century in Europe, through the voices of two protagonists. One is a Protestant, who over the course of the book becomes increasingly allied to the Anabaptists, one of the most extreme Protestant sects. The Anabaptists, who practiced re-baptism and preached social and ecclesiastical anarchy, were hated and persecuted by the followers of Luther and Calvin no less than by the servants of the Pope. The other protagonist is a spy in the service of a powerful cardinal who provides a narrative of the events in Germany and Italy and also acts as an agent provocateur. These two mortal enemies share a surprisingly similar world view of a world which is foreign to us in this century, and yet some reviewers have read Luther Blisset's book as a metaphor of Europe in teh 20th century. The real names of the protagonists are never revealed, and they each go by various aliases throughout the book, which can be a bit confusing at times. The book is translated from the Italian, and contains explicit scatological language which will not come as a surprise to anyone who has studied the writings and sayings of Luther, but which sound strange to modern ears on the lips of Protestant preachers and their congregations. Q provides an interesting slant on the Protestant reformation for anyone interested in this period. It also provides an interesting perspective on the participation and survival of Sephardic Judaism in Europe. One really great thing about this book is that it is licensed under Creative Commons. This means that the text can be legally reproduced in electronic form, provided the author and copyright notice are acknowledged. Hopefully this is the way of publishing in the future. ( ) 1nbm | Feb 19, 2011 | An amazing tale revolving around the violence in Western Europe during the Protestant Reformation. The authors are an interesting group; some of the same people have written books under the pen name of "Wu Ming". (  ) TioMyth | Oct 21, 2010 | As fascinating as this book was, the author[s] is[are] almost as fascinating. To learn about the author[s] go to www.wumingfoundation.com. I learned all this part way through the book and it gave me another perspective. ( ) cacky | Sep 9, 2010 |
 Set Les Miserables in Reformation Europe, with Javert reporting to an evil cardinal instead of the prefect of police, and you’ll have something of this book.  Rich religious history is turned into bloated, tedious fiction in this Reformation-age epic produced by four anonymous writers lurking behind a pseudonym. ContainsHas the (non-series) sequel
References to this work on external resources.
|
 Google Books — Loading...
Popular coversRatingAverage: (3.98)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1
Wikipedia in English (3)
1
This is a novel set between 1518 and 1555, mostly in Germany with excursions to surrounding countries, about a radical Anabaptist and the papal agent who pursues him through the sixteenth century's wars of religion. It has had a lot of attention particularly in Italy ("Luther Blissett" is apparently a pseudonym for four Italian writers) and is seen by some as a metaphor for modern global politics, and/or in the Umberto Eco tradition of The Name of the Rose.
I wasn't completely satisfied with it. I thought that the nameless hero's story of shifting identity and conflict was quite well realised, with lots of grim and effective contemporary detail, even though it wasn't really clear until close to the end that this was going anywhere, but Hilary Mantel pursued a similar idea rather better in Wolf Hall. The Q sub-plot, however, annoyed me; much of it is told in letters ostensibly written by Q to his patron in Rome which totally fail to get the contemporary idiom (and necessarily include much info-dumping); and the final revelation of Q's identity was disappointing. (